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Where do Debian Developers Come From?

In a study not likely to cause controversy, Christian Perrier has published the results of his analysis of the number of Debian developers per country. He ran the analysis last year for the first time, so one can see the progress or recession in the last year. No matter where you call home, the numbers are quite interesting.

The land that gave the world Linus Torvald also gives the world the most Debian developers per million population. Ranked number one last year as well, Finland is home to 3.92 active developers per one million souls. In second place is Switzerland with 2.83 per million. New Zealand holds a very respectable third place with 2.51 per million. The United Kingdom beats out the United States with their 1.03 developers per million to .53. In last place is the Ukraine, China, and India. Making their first showing this year is Ecuador with one new developer or .07 developers per million people. Sweden, who ranked third last year, fell to sixth this year. Ireland has gained three new developers bringing their total to nine which allows them to hold ninth place, up from 13.

Looking at the raw numbers gives a different picture. In that case, the United States comes in first with 165 active developers with Germany following closely behind with 148. France comes in third with 84 active developers and the UK is home to 64. The winners in the per million case, Finland and Switzerland, provide 21 and 22 developers respectively.

The analysis find that Debian consists of 873 total active developers.